Controlling Groundwater Pumping Online. Slim Zekri Department of Natural Resource Economics Sultan Qaboos University

Transcription

1 Controlling Groundwater Pumping Online Slim Zekri Department of Natural Resource Economics Sultan Qaboos University

2 Why users over-pump? Economists view GW is an open access resource Missing property right: National Wealth!! No effective exclusion mechanism Users have no incentives to save water GW conserved by one party may simply be used by someone else because the conserver has no exclusive right to the water saved The burden of the over-pumping would not be shared uniformly The party who saves water could be a victim Future generations will pay a heavy price

3 GW over-pumping: Approaches Participation and awareness raising Subsidies for water-saving technologies No water saving per se. Higher water use efficiency GW use rights, permits and quotas Groundwater pricing municipal & industrial uses only: little impact due to the small share Water metering is too costly Few countries adopted it: Jordan, Nebraska, South Australia Remote sensing tools: crop mix control Not accurate: could be challenged in courts Energy pricing Politically hard to justify Energy quota Objective of this presentation

4 GW over-pumping & seawater intrusion in Oman Seawater intrusion is a major problem in the coastal Batinah area 53% of Oman s agricultural cropped land Safe yield: 415 Mm3/year GW over-pumping: 177 Mm3/year Reduce pumping by 30%

5 Consequences of over-pumping 1. Higher pumping and deepening costs by lowering the water table 2. GW salinization due to seawater intrusion: Agric. & Domestic uses 3. Inter-generational externalities resulting from the changes in groundwater stock and quality

6 Options for Oman 1. Wells metering: tube-wells only Less than 8% of the wells are tube-wells 2. Energy pricing Increase electricity price by 212% 100% Price increase & energy quota through high price ½ Rial per kwh Implementation is not possible 3. Water quota converted into Energy quota Electricity quota/farm/year according to current cropped area

7 Rationale for quotas RD. 29/2000 Water in the Sultanate of Oman is considered a national wealth, the use of which is subject to controls set by the Ministry to regulate its optimum exploitation for the benefit of the overall development plans of the state MD 264/2000 article (21.A) The Ministry shall determine the quantity of water to be taken from each well. In doing so the Ministry may compel the owner to install a water meter according to specified conditions and specifications. Installation of water meter may be undertaken by the Ministry at the expense of the well owner. The well owner must stick to the amount of water determined by the Ministry. Meter reading shall constitute sufficient evidence in regard to the amount of water abstracted from the well.

8 How to do it??? Koundouri(2004) and Kemper(2007): few countries practice water flow metering and control because of the disproportionately high transaction costs of individual monitoring of users involved in groundwater abstraction Squeeze the cost of monitoring HOW???? Convert water quota into electricity quota New electricity metering technology

9 Electricity Grid 20 Digit Number Order Prepaid Meter Data-base OIFC Well Payment Order of payment Figure 1: On-Line Electricity Payment

10 Check Quota Electricity Order Order Balance of electricity Quota NO Send Your quota is over STOP Electricity Supply YES Check Credit END Back

11 Check Credit Electricity Order Credit Electricity Order NO Send Insufficient Credit STOP Electricity Supply YES Payment Approved Send Approval to OIFC Back

12 Fund Available Electricity Grid 20 Digit Number SMS Order SMS Token Data-base OIFC Prepaid Meter SMS Order Well Check Credit Figure 2: SMS Electricity Payment

13 Check Quota Electricity Order Order Balance of electricity Quota NO Send SMS: Your quota is over STOP Electricity Supply YES Check Credit END Back

14 Check Credit Electricity Order Credit Electricity Order NO Send SMS: Insufficient Credit STOP Electricity Supply YES Payment Approved Send Approval to OIFC Back

15 Methodology: cost-benefit analysis Benefits 1. Stopping the water table decline 2. Preventing Aflaj from drying-up 3. Protecting farmers and domestic users from increased salinity 4. Ensuring sustainability for future generations 5. Energy saving due to the reduction of volume of water pumped. Costs 1. Investment & operating costs of prepaid electricity meters 2. Financial losses of farmers due to the introduction of restrictive water quotas 3. Cost of the online system to monitor the electricity meters 4. Implementation cost of a participatory approach and an extension program for stakeholders

16 Results Business as usual scenario Net Present Value= $ million disc. rate Installation of prepaid electricity meters Net Present Value= $ million disc. rate 177 Million m3 of water saved Land protected from desertification Aquifer protected for future generations

17 Conclusions Groundwater pumping control is Possible Cost effective Easy to monitor Profitable Allows sustainability But it requires Farmers involvement Participatory approach Political will Technology alone is not the solution Government investment in the pre-paid electricity meters

18 Thank you

19 What was recommended in 1991? the improvement of irrigation efficiency through the introduction of modern irrigation systems the substitution of palm trees for winter vegetable crops the use of an appropriate water tariff structure for non agricultural purposes the re-use of treated wastewater for municipal irrigation

20 What was achieved? Only 19.2% of the cropped area is currently under MIS ( census) 4% of the palm trees are under MIS ¼ Million R.O/year is spent on subsidizing MIS More vegetables are grown in summer due to the MIS more pumping In 10 years the number of palm trees decreased by ½ Million trees (unwanted result) Increased use of GW for landscaping 15 recharge dams in the Batinah region were built between 1990 and 2005 Cost of the Dams 64 Million R.O (2006 value) Recharging 28 Mm3/year Cost per m to Rial Omani Return from agriculture/m to R.O

21 Wells Metering Experiences Wells metering: meter s cost & installation at farmer s expense Jordan Nebraska Texas Georgia South Australia Energy pricing Mexico (over 100 thousand wells) 2 block electricity tariffs since 2003 (NAFTA effect)